Tuesday, July 31, 2007

I think it's time I took my own musical career into my own hands again, just like at the beginning of the journey detailed in here.

Kicking around doing some covers occasionally is fun, but I'm in danger of letting myself wander into the terrible stage of middle age where people just give up by degrees. If you do that you might as well just hang up your fun for the rest of your life and settle down to prepare for death!

Life must have passion: if passion is only available through dedication, then so be it.

So this is an APB: if you read this, and you're located within 15 to 20 miles of Slough (there are some pretty places around there! - and I'm including West London, where Jamiroquai came from) and you want to start something original which could get huge, with a lean towards all things funky (no gauge of how hard the music will be yet - i.e. skunk anasie or james brown, or both? Who knows?!) then get in touch with me at letsdoit@funkybass.co.uk (yep, it's a real email address) and we'll see what we do from there.

Even if this means I can't do covers anymore, I've got to reach for something and not turn into a wrinkly Rollings Stones cover player... argh!

I'll be looking through the want ads again as well. I may find you first. Be prepared...

Oh and BTW, anyone want to buy my small rig? One Warwick CCL combo (250W, 15" driver great sound) and one 2x10 Trace Elliot extension cab making up a great portable rig for any pub gig. I'l selling the two huge speakers from the main rig as well to upgrade to something a little lighter. Any interest to sales@funkybass.co.uk.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Well, even though I reside in the hallowed halls of South Bucks I am still at least a little affected by the extensive wetness on this emerald swimming pool isle at the moment...

We're not playing O'Neills this friday, which is pity. I was looking forward to that - after the holiday (greece for a couple of weeks - hence why I've been away!) I'd been digging into the 5-string (re-loaded with boiled Hartke strings from Andorra - which polish up very nice, thank you!) really hard in an effort to get gig-fit ASAP. Now it seems that the river from which Oxford takes its name has had its revenge! Poo.

On the plus side, I'm looking seriously at the possiblities around here. There must be some musicians who want to make a quality racket, and not just fart about in a pub every so often...

Big shout out to Virtu from the Aspen in Soldeu: she's off to Argentina with her son this summer, but somewhat mysteriously insists she'll see us in september!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

OK, I figured I should tell you where I got to... rhodes! I've figured out that Janeiro could make a small fortune here (the Greeks do like their Rock) and also that sometimes the road less travelled can lead you somewhere really cool.

The picture is this wicked outpost (believe me, it's like a cool oasis) called Fanes where kitesurfers skid up and down and rapid speed (good winds on this north-western shore) and catch some cool air.

From where I sit I can see ads for snowboard gear, which is wierd in 28 degree heat! I can tell that some of the guys out there are wicked on piste when they're not out here having fun making windsurfers look slow! :)

If you make it out here check out Delfini restaurant (www.delfini-fanes.gr) where the waiter, this total friend ol fella, will challenge you to his cold beer!

I know the weather in the UK sucks at the moment. My advice would be to get into a watersport with wetsuits, then a) you don't care and b) you'd be as cool as these guys on this beach.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Friday night was a night to remember... all four of us were totally blown away by the crowd response, the first set went well but the second and third were huge too. In particular, Jamie's usual calls for all the laydees to get down the front and dance actually went answered - with the result that at one stage he nearly got fallen onto at the front of the stage by some rather unsteady dancers :)

A great night - when the Arctic Monkeys track started I thought the floor would give way. Not a good idea, as the toilets are under there...

A huge shout to anyone who came to see us that night: one of the best. You could tell it was going to be a good one by the sheer number of uniformed police on duty in town! I got told to move my car (while unloading, I might add - how are you supposed to make a living around here???) by no fewer than 2 carloads of coppers, one of which was unmarked and stuffed with plainclothes guys!

Great night though. CHEERS!

And a huge shout to John, Alison and the Andorra frat who totally surprised us by turning up and getting the Sambucas in. SHOTS!

----- Today's Practise Diary -----

Well, the weekend's anyway... lots of funky stuff, but i did about 2 hours of guitar(!) yesterday as I wanted to learn "Riviera Paradise" by Stevie Ray Vaughan. After ploughing through several crappy tabs, I found a video on youtube and worked it out for myself. Got the intro and first section, which is what I had in mind!